Without free speech no search for truth is possible... no discovery of truth is useful.
Interpretation
Free speech is essential for discovering and understanding truth.
This quote highlights the fundamental role that free speech plays in the pursuit of truth. Charles Bradlaugh emphasizes that without the ability to express ideas freely, society cannot adequately search for or discern what is true, rendering any discoveries meaningless.
In practice
In a debate about censorship, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of free discourse.
The atheist does not say 'there is no God,' but he says 'I know not what you mean by God; I am without idea of God'; the word 'God' is to me a sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation. ... The Bible God I deny; the Christian God I disbelieve in; but I am not rash enough to say there is no God as long as you tell me you are unprepared to define God to me.
The reputation of power IS power.
Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive.
I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am!
At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
The weakness of ourselves and of our reason makes us see flaws in beauties by making us consider everything piece by piece.
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